Movie review
October 4, 2018 · 152 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for The House That Jack Built.
Woke representation / casting
The cast is mostly white actors matching the 1970s-1980s American setting and story of a white male killer. No race/gender swaps, diversity quotas, or identity signaling stand out.
Woke political dialogue
Dialogue covers art, evil, and the killer's twisted justifications, including crude gender comments from his insane viewpoint. No activist language or left-wing social lectures appear.
Identity-driven story themes
The narrative centers on one man's psychopathy and view of murder as art, with no plots built around race, sexuality, gender identity, or systemic oppression.
Western institutional / cultural critique
The film delivers a nihilistic attack on art, morality, and civilized life with provocative historical references. It lacks modern activist takes on patriarchy, capitalism, whiteness, or institutions as oppressive systems.
Review
The 2018 psychological horror film directed by Lars von Trier follows Jack, a failed architect and serial killer in Washington state during the late 1970s and 1980s. Jack narrates five elaborate murders to a guide named Verge in a structure inspired by Dante's Inferno, presenting his crimes as personal works of art while descending into philosophical talks on evil and morality. The story shows extreme graphic violence and nihilistic themes with no visible identity politics, diversity emphasis, social-justice messaging, or activist framing in casting, dialogue, or plot.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. This is an original story with no adaptations or reinterpretations of known figures.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No public complaints accused the film of pushing woke, DEI, or identity politics. Controversy stayed on graphic violence and perceived misogyny in the depictions.
Creator track record context
Lars von Trier has left-leaning family roots and a history of defiant public comments, but his films prioritize raw darkness over identity or representation themes. Other key crew show professional profiles without activist patterns.
Production
